The purpose of the Regional Safeguarding Lead role is to support safeguarding practice in dioceses and cathedrals across the Church of England.  

As a Regional Safeguarding Lead, you will support the development of best safeguarding practices in one of eight regional clusters of Diocesan Boards of Finance (DBFs) and cathedrals. Providing professional supervision and quality assurance to Safeguarding Officers, you will support the implementation of the National Safeguarding Standards to encourage consistency of practice. You will also support Church bodies to respond to the findings of the Independent Safeguarding Audit Programme.  

You will facilitate the sharing of best practices and resources, group supervision, and the commissioning of joint initiatives between Church bodies. Working closely with senior managers, senior clergy and other stakeholders, you will ensure Church-wide consistency in approach. 

You’ll be responsible for: 

• Providing 1:1 professional supervision to Safeguarding Officers in dioceses and cathedrals, informed by the 4x4x4 integrated/restorative model of supervision (Morrisson & Wonnacott).
• Providing advice and guidance on individual cases and safeguarding-related situations.
• Using tools and frameworks to examine practices and processes ensuring the Church of England’s National Safeguarding Standards are being consistently met or worked towards.
• Leading regional networks of safeguarding professionals from dioceses and cathedrals, and facilitating joint working, sharing of resources and other mutual support arrangements.
• Establishing effective relationships with key stakeholders within dioceses and cathedrals, in particular, their senior leadership teams.

Find out more - You can find a link to the webinar which can be played back here: https://youtu.be/f_874M6itD8 

ABOUT YOU  

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve across the whole country. Therefore, while of course, we welcome all applications from all interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minoritised Ethnicities (UKME)/Global Majority Heritage (GMH) and other under-represented groups.   

You will have experience of working at a strategic level, at least at the middle manager level, influencing decision-making and implementation. You’ll have a case worker lead responsibility in cases involving the protection and safeguarding of children and/or vulnerable adults, and up-to-date knowledge of research and evidence-based practice models relevant to safeguarding. 

You will also need:  

• A professional qualification or equivalent experience relevant to safeguarding.
• The ability to apply safeguarding theory and good practice models in a way that delivers positive outcomes for children and/or vulnerable adults.
• Experience in leading organisation change and development, including cultural change, that results in improved outcomes for relevant stakeholders.

For further information on the role and person specification, please see the attached job description. 

The application deadline is 22nd May 2025. 

For an informal conversation about the role, please contact: iicsa1and8@churchofengland.org